1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a method of manufacturing an inkjet print head, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing an inkjet print head, in which a manufacturing process is simplified and an ink channel is uniformly formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet print heads are apparatuses, which discharge minute ink droplets onto a paper so as to print an image. Among methods for operating the inkjet print heads, a method, in which an ink in a chamber is heated so as to generate air bubbles and is discharged onto a paper through nozzles using the expansive force of the bubbles, has been known.
Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0517515 discloses an inkjet print head and a method for manufacturing the same. Such an inkjet print head includes a chamber layer, which is stacked on a substrate so as to form an ink chamber, and a nozzle layer, which is formed on the chamber layer. Nozzles for discharging an ink are formed in the nozzle layer. A heater for heating the ink in the ink chamber and a leading layer for supplying current to the heater are provided on the substrate. Hereinafter, the method for manufacturing the inkjet print head will be described.
First, in order to form chamber layer, a negative photoresist is applied to the substrate, on which the heater and electrodes are formed, and then the ink chamber is formed in the chamber layer by a photolithography process. After the chamber layer is formed, a sacrificial layer is applied to the chamber layer, and the upper surfaces of the sacrificial layer and the chamber layer are leveled by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In order to form the nozzle layer, a negative photoresist is applied to the leveled sacrificial and chamber layers, and nozzles are formed in the nozzle layer by a photolithography process.
Since the sacrificial layer is applied to the upper surface of the chamber layer, and the upper surfaces of the sacrificial layer and the chamber layer are leveled by CMP, the above method has a complicated manufacturing process. This complicated manufacturing process increases factors of failure and lowers productivity.
Particularly, since the upper surface of the chamber layer as well as the upper surface of the sacrificial layer is polished by CMP and there are deviations of thicknesses of the chamber layer and the sacrificial layer due to a difference of hardnesses between the chamber layer and the sacrificial layer, the above method has a difficulty in uniformly forming the chamber layer and the nozzle layer. Further, burrs may be formed at inlets of the nozzles due to the chemical or optical reaction of the sacrificial layer and the nozzle layer. These problems may obstruct the formation of a uniform ink channel.